Guardiola says Spurs tie in last-eight is ‘50-50’ despite City’s recent dominance

Liverpool paired with Porto but United face daunting clash against Barcelona

Pep Guardiola believes Manchester City’s Champions League quarter-final with Tottenham is a “50-50” tie.

City have won their last three games against Mauricio Pochettino’s side but Guardiolaistakingnothingfor granted after yesterday’s draw, which also saw last year’s beaten finalists Liverpool receive arguably the most favourable tie after being paired with Porto. Manchester United face a daunting tie against Barcelona, although caretaker manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will enjoy another trip to the Nou Camp, where he scored the winner in United’s 1999 Champions League final win over Bayern.

United were drawn as the away team for the first leg but the tie had to be reversed, with Uefa stipulating in advance, following advice from local authorities, that United and City could not play at home on successive nights.

United and Liverpool will meet in the semi-finals if they reach the last four, with Tottenham or Manchester City facing the winner of the quarter-final between Ajax and Juventus. The ties between Liverpool and Porto and Tottenham and Manchester City will be held on 9 and 17 April, with the other quarter-finals staged on 10 and 16 April. City won both league games with Tottenham last season and also beat Pochettino’s side at Wembley earlier this campaign. “We know each other quite well. We have played [Spurs] in the last years many times so we have a lot of respect for them,” Guardiola, pictured, said.

“[They are a] top side, so it’s 50-50. They can use different systems, how good they are up front with Son [Heung-min], [Harry] Kane, Dele Alli, with the quality from [Christian] Eriksen. They are a tough side but any other team in the Champions League would be the same.”